I do not own the show GRAVITY FALLS or any of the characters; both are the property of the Walt Disney Company and of Alex Hirsch. I make no money from these stories but write just for fun and in the hope that other fans enjoy reading them
Rumbelows
(July 13-16, 2016)
1
The first rumbles came during the little birthday gathering for Soos on the evening of Wednesday, July 13. Melody had baked a cake, Abuelita had cooked all of Soos's favorite foods for dinner, and the family, plus Mabel, Teek, Dipper, and Wendy, had gathered for a quiet celebration.
Soos, sitting with his two kids on his knees and Melody and Abuelita standing behind him, posed for a photo. "It's so good to be able to, like, have a birthday and be happy about it!" he said with his big, buck-toothed smile shining.
And then the blowing out of the candles—Little Soos helped—and the presents. Soos always insisted these be something small, but he loved them all—the warm boots that Melody had bought him ("So good for when it snows! Thank you, my sweet wife!"), the big bag of watermelon Pulparindo candy from Abuelita ("Oh, wow! A taste of Mexico! Thank you, Abuelita!"), the music player and earbuds from Mabel and Dipper ("Dawgs! Now I can listen to my favorite tunes even when I'm asleep!"), and the certificate for a winter's supply of firewood from Wendy ("Oh, Wendy dude! This will, like, warm my heart and my feet!").
Then just as Little Soos was presenting his papa with a birthday card that he had drawn himself (one lopsided circle was the Mystery Shack, another was Soos, and the smaller ones were Melody, Abuelita, Harmony, and Little Soos himself), they heard a deep unfamiliar rumbling, like thunder—but the whole place shook.
"Earthquake!" Melody yelled.
"Just a small one!" Mabel said. "Hey, we get 'em all the time in California! This one felt like maybe a three? Dipper, would you say a three?"
"About that," he said. The shaking had been brief and not even strong enough to rattle the dishes in the cabinets.
"Mr. Pines says there was a heck of a big one years ago," Soos said solemnly. "Back when Mount St. Helens erupted. He says the ash cloud looked way eerie."
They turned on the news, but there was no word of an earthquake or of any devasting volcanic eruptions. "Just a small one, like I said," Mabel pronounced.
Dipper wondered. Ford had discovered that a whole subterranean landscape sprawled deep below Gravity Falls. First, the Gnomes had extensive ranges of tunnels (mostly abandoned now, since the Gnomes had migrated to the surface after raids by the Mole Men back in the previous century). Then far below the tunnels was the Crawlspace, a cavernous realm not as large as the town, but big enough to be impressive and labyrinthine enough to be baffling. It consisted mostly of a sort of monsters' flea market, a space where creatures of the night could, as Stan said, "make a buck."
Dipper wondered if that might have collapsed or partly collapsed. The Crawlspace lay partly beneath the Shack's grounds and extended as far as the outskirts of town. One way in was to pass through Door 13 in Mystic Lane—or you could even access it through the Outhouse of Mystery if you knew how—and if something had happened to it, well, who knew what might literally turn up? Dipper knew that various demonic or semi-demonic creatures hung out in the Crawlspace, including one that stole people's faces. The Hand Witch also occasionally showed up there to sell or trade stuff, and he was almost sure that on his one trip there, he had glimpsed the Hide-Behind. But maybe not.
After the party wound up and Wendy left for home—they were still putting in hard days at the Shack—Dipper took a big flashlight and went out into the woods as far as the bonfire clearing, where he stood and called out for Jeff.
The Gnome showed up a few minutes later. "Hiya," he said cheerfully. "We had a boffo day at the Shack! We've been counting the money people threw to us dancers. We think we've got a thousand quarters, a thousand dollars, and some fives, too! Would you count it for us?"
Dipper laughed. "Sure, I'll be happy to. And I'll buy you some mushrooms with it any time you want."
"Great!" Jeff said, rubbing his hands. The problem with Gnome mathematics was that the ceiling number—the maximum to which Gnomes could accurately count—was somewhere between twenty and fifty. They always ran out of patience and called any large number a thousand.
"I wanted to ask you," Dipper said. "A while ago, we felt this shaking, like an earthquake. Did you guys feel it too?"
"Shaking?" Jeff asked. "Hmm. No, I don't think anybody reported that to the Queen. I could send an emissary to ask the ferals about it—they still live underground and might have noticed it. Want me to do that?"
"No rush, but when you have time. See you tomorrow."
"Shmebulock will bring our money bag for you to count!" Jeff said. "Thanks!"
The Outhouse of Mystery was just a short walk down the trail. Dipper got there, hesitated, and opened the door. If bad news was on the way from the Crawlspace, better to learn it sooner than later.
"Brobro!"
He hadn't expected Mabel to be following him, and he jumped a little. "Sis! I was just, uh—"
"Well, I know you weren't gonna go Number Two!" Mabel said. "Not here. This thing is crazy, and you know it."
That was true. The Outhouse of Mystery didn't operate on the same principles of reality as the rest of the area. For one thing, if you went in and did your business in, say, five minutes or less, when you emerged again, two hours might have passed in the outside world.
And then, too, if you performed a specific ritual and said some specific words, you could use it as an elevator straight to the Crawlspace.
"No, I—well, the earthquake kind of made me wonder—"
"Going down to the caverns, are we?"
"No! Well, I mean I was—but that doesn't mean you need to come, too. We got in trouble there once already, and the creatures don't like it when humans intrude."
"So? We'll stay out of their way," Mabel said. "Broseph, I've got my grappling hook right here. Don't make me use it on you!"
"OK," Dipper said. "But just a quick look. If there's no cave-ins or anything, we're coming straight back."
"Understood!" Mabel said. "Let's find out what's up! Or what's down! Or what's up down there! Or get the low-down on what's up! Come on, Brobro—"
"That's enough," Dipper said.
"Just one more! Let's get down!"
Dipper knew when to give in.
And so . . . they did everything she was demanding.